‘’Seattle… is currently
to the rock n’ roll
world what Bethlehem meant to Christianity’’
SPIN, 1996

Known as the Emerald city,
Seattle is the biggest one in the
state of Washington, with 617.334
inhabitants. It is also, the
birthplace
of
the
legendary
musician Jimi Hendrix and the
famous coffee company Starbucks.
There are definitely lots of facts
about this interesting city, but
today we`re analysing its music
scene, and what it meant to rock
‘n’ roll’s development.
In the early 80’s, Seattle didn’t
attract that many musicians, in
fact, they only stopped by at San
Francisco, which was at that time
the hot spot. The city was crowded
with
all
types
of
wannabes,
including
singers
with
fake
English accents. Glam metal bands
were in every direction, with
their big hairs and lots of
eyeliner, and all the lame punk
rockers used to hang out at the
First Avenue, next to the donut
shop.
There were about two clubs for
local bands to do their shows and
gigs, so they rented halls and did
the
whole
production
by
themselves, from doing the tickets
to cleaning up the mess after the
shows.
Nobody
was
really
interested in success, because
Seattle didn’t have much meaning
in the music scene; all the

New York.
Bands played because they loved it,
and
there
was
a
very
familiar
environment among them.
The
shows
were
everything
but
controlled, lots of alcohol, stage
diving and chaos; this was what
attracted the most to foreign bands
like Scratch Acid, who were used to
very critical and boring crowds.
The music scene in general was
considered sometimes as dumb. Some of
the people who belonged to bands
admitted themselves as losers or high
school bullied freaks. They didn’t
care much about what people said, and
that was the fun part of it.

3

By the end of the 80’s,
people
just
started
to
dislike glam metal bands;
they wanted real music and
not just pretty looking boys
and guitar solos. On the
contrary, the typical Seattle
bands
were
sometimes
qualified as inconsistent,
because none of the bands
followed
a
determined
structure in their gigs. The
singer
could
be
crawling
through the floor and stage
diving,
they
weren’t
performing or entertaining,
they were just rocking.
There was a lot of ‘’do it
yourself spirit’’ going on,
bands recorded their albums
by
themselves,
they
just
needed a microphone and some
magnetic tape (and maybe some
sound effects); plus you had
to make sure your parents
wouldn’t like your music.

It was notorious something new was
happening at that time in the
local music scene, but nobody
putted a label on it. Local music
was influenced by punk rock and
heavy metal, mixture which created
a noisy, absurd, chaotic heavy and
dirty sound. It was just rock ‘n’
Roll going back to its basics.

SUB POP
Bruce Pavitt, a fan at that time,
had a fanzine with the name of Sub
Pop. He made his own cassette
compilations with the songs he
liked and shared them. His friend
Jonathan Poneman and him were fans
of the band Soundgarden, and they
were very interested in the idea
of starting a record label.
The bands at that time were all

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Recording
with
small
labels, and Sub Pop was an
alternative to it.
The 90´s had this indie
ethic
that
said
you
shouldn’t be proud of being
famous or have hit records
on the radios. As big fans
of American pop music, Sub
Pop selected their bands,
starting
a
sort
of
‘’underground hype’’ going
on in Seattle.
Everything
started
when
Jonathan and Bruce invited
an English journalist to
Seattle, and showed him the
current music scene. The
journalist wrote the story
in a famous newspaper in
England: that was when the
city was introduced to the
world as one of the most
important
in
the
music
world at that time.
People started looking for
the characteristic Seattle
sound, which had a very
marked
identity.
Bands
started to get known and
suddenly
got
lots
of
opportunities.
Soon
the
‘’Seattle sound’’ was way
more important than pop.

Time
after
the
big
explosion, bands started to
regret and critique what
Sub Pop did in Seattle’s
music
scene.
Suddenly
everybody was looking for
the new Nirvana or the new
Pearl jam, making other
bands
lose
their
true
identity. It was all about
selling
bands
as
‘’grunge’’, a term that by
the way the bands didn’t
invent.
Although some may consider
this as something negative,
we can’t deny that Seattle
was once one of the most
important places for music
in the world.

5

KOEBA NE ‘ S ART

‘’My mother encouraged me a
lot to be artistic. It was
written in a contract at an
early age that I would be an
artist’’
Ever

since

Kurt

D.

Cobain was a little boy, he
was
very
attracted
by
drawing and painting.
His
parents
always
encouraged him to develop
his artistic side. For his
eighth birthday in February
1975 he received an easel
from
his
paternal
grandparents.
Comic
book
characters
were
his
inspiration in childhood.
Later he began with Disney
characters, such as Donald
Duck, although he quickly
changed to superheroes.
In fact, his parents always
thought Kurt’s future had to
do with and art involved
career. ’’It was my mom’s
big dream that Kurt and I
would end up at Disneyland,
both of us working there
with
him
drawing’’,
remembered his sister.
When he was in second grade,
Cobain’s artwork was chosen
to appear in the school’s
newspaper cover.

His bedroom walls soon became the
gallery for his art creations; he
was constantly adding drawings to
it.
He also showed abilities in
modelling with plasticine and
clay, making sculptures of aliens
or superheroes. When he visited
his paternal grandparents, he
helped his grandmother Iris to
recreate
some
of
Norman
Rockwell’s paintings (she was a
big fan of him) by etching them
onto
dried
mushrooms
with
toothpicks. In another occasion,
he built a dollhouse for his
grandmother with the help of his
grandfather.

6

-

Another of his favourite art
muses were aliens, long-limbed
extraterrestrial creatures. Later
he
started
incorporating
collages.
At the age of 15 he figured out
he could start a cartoonist
career. His art teacher suggested
it could be possible to attend
art school if he applied himself.
The problem was his other grades;
they were very low for college,
even for art school. His friends
started to tease him, awarding
himself the nickname ‘’Kurt slowbrain’’.

In high school, the only class
Kurt attended was art. He would
skip school all morning and
then come back for art period;
it was the only place where he
found recognition and selfrespect.
In 1985, Kurt’s art teacher,
Bob Hunter, convinced him to
participate in the Regional
High School Art Show. His
chosen painting, a landscape,
remained in the finalists and
entered a statewide contest.
Unfortunately he lost, but he
still got a certificate.
According to his art teacher,
Kurt was gifted with a great
capacity
of
drawing;
accompanied with an active
imagination.
His
primary
stylistic
techniques
were
realism or caricature, but his
theme
choice
was
always
extravagant.
In
one
opportunity, his assignment was
to show an object evolving over
time; taking the assignment
literally he drew a sperm cell
turning into an embryo.

Long before Kurt Cobain was known
for his music, everybody in Grays
Harbour knew him as ‘’ the kid
who painted the band kiss on one
side of The Melvin’s van (the
Mel-Van)’’.
Art and music were Kurt’s alltime passions. He gave up his
cartoonist plans to find out his
life’s path: music.

7

BOOK REVIEW OF THE
MONTH : LORD OF THE
FLIES

Lord of the Flies
is a book written by
William Golding in 1954.
Located in the midst of a
nuclear war after World
War 2, several English
boys between 6 and 12
years old are stranded on
a desert island.

This is an incredible book,
compelling from start to
finish, Goldingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carefully
calculated
technique
is
dazzling
and
lures
the
reader into the world of
these English boys and their
hardships and struggles to
survive on the island. With
descriptions that will give
you goosebumps and a chill
up
your
spine,
William
Goldingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main objective is
not to tell a story, but to
use that story to convey a
message. Golding is in fact,
trying to show us the true
nature
of
human
beings,
placing rich boys from a
posh,
private
school
in
England on a lonely deserted
island without much hope for
rescue and little by little
stripping
the
rationality
and order that had been
ingrained since they were
little into them. Golding
uses many many different
symbolisms and references in
the book, each and every
thing, event or person that
has been created by the
author has a purpose, a
task, a symbolic meaning.

8
It takes human nature and
strips it down until only
primitive instincts are
left, the human beingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
most hidden, true, raw
personality
comes
out.
The main theme of the
book
would
be
civilization
versus
savagery,
and
every
aspect
of
this
confrontation
is
represented in a person
or object. Lord of the
Flies is much more than
meets the eye; you cannot
rush into this book and
expect to understand it.

This is a book that
must be read slowly,
methodically, profoundly
analyzing every part of
it because there is a
vast
amount
of
information that can be
extracted
from
it,
subtleties that William
Golding
has
cleverly
snuck into the book,
references
and
symbolisms that without
proper care will be
overlooked. Lord of the
Flies is a incredible
book, with layers and
layers
of
complexity
which makes it all the
more extraordinary.
A classic of western
literature, we award it
5/5.

9

LEGENDARY BANDS
THE MELVINS

The Melvins were
founded by Buzz Osbourne, Matt
Lukin, and Mike Dillard in the
early 1980’s. The three of them
lived in Montesano, Washington.
They started off playing Jimi
Hendrix and Cream covers. They then
started to play their songs
heavier, slower and dirtier than
anyone else at the time.
In 1986 they recorded their first
full length album: ‚Gluey Porch
Treatments‛ and in 1990 they
recorded another studio record
titled ‚Bullhead‛. This last album
had a heavier, more droning type of
sound. They then proceeded to tour
Europe.
When Nirvana’s ‚Nevermind‛ album
became a huge success, The Melvins
profited greatly by it, being
signed by Atlantic Records.

This is quite ironic, as Kurt Cobain,
the Nirvana singer and guitar player
once auditioned for a place as bass
player for The Melvins, but being so
nervous he forgot all the songs and
failed the audition miserably. The
Melvins first major release was in 1993
with their album ‚Houdini‛ which peaked
at number 29 on the Billboard Heatseeker
charts.
This band made only 2 more albums with
Atlantic Records, ‚Stoner Witch‛ in 1994
and ‚Stag‛ in 1996. The band was then
dropped by Atlantic Records for lack of
success in the mainstream and because
the Seattle Sound was losing popularity.
They’re active to the date, and are
still producing music and making
records.

10

With Soundgarden, they are
considered to be one of the
fathers of ‚grunge‛. Kurt Cobain
himself was a huge fan of the
band and it provided a huge
influence on Nirvana’s music.
Cobain was on good terms with
the band and was in touch with
them until his death in 1994.
The song that we recommend you
listen to to have an idea of the
type of music The Melvins made
is: ‚Honey Bucket‛ from the 1993
album ‚Houdini‛.
The Melvins’ current lineup
is:
- Buzz Osbourne
- Dale Crover
- Jared Warren
- Coady Willis
The Melvins played incorporating
aspects of heavy metal and
hardcore punk, fusing them
together to make a genre in
which the lyrics and attitude
are reminiscent of punk, but
also involving a much slower
tempo and complex
instrumentation, hence the
reference to heavy metal.